Rotatable tool support having positive latch means



Sept. 29, 1953 R. A. MOTT 2,653,634

ROTATABLE TOOL SUPPORT HAVING POSITIVE LATCH MEANS Filed Aug. 4, 1952 -2SheetsSheet l INVENTOR I .33 5' RAYMOND A. MOTT BY ga /2% ATTORNEY Sept.29, 1953 R. A. MOTT 2,553,634

ROTATABLE TOOL SUPPORT HAVING POSITIVE LATCH MEAN Filed Aug. 4, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. F l G 6 RAYMOND A. MOTT Patented Sept. 29, 1953UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTATABLE TOOL SUPPORT. PGS-ITIVE LATCHMEANS Raymond A. Mott, Mead, Washl Application August 4, 1952-, Serial N0. 302,522

3' Claims. 1 This invention relatesto an improved. tool support and itis one object of the invention to provide a support which is adapted tocarry a number of tools, such as a lathe or the like, the support beingmounted in an improved manner for turning about a horizontal axisforbringing a selected tool in position for use. and improved latchingmeans being provided for securely holding the support against accidentalturning movement after the desired tool is in position for use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support which has fiattool carrying surfaces extending its fulllength to provide ample roomfor the tools, ends of the support being provided with end walls ofspider-like formation which carry stub shafts for rotatably mounting thesupport and having marginal portions specially formed so that they maybe engaged by latches which hold the support against accidental turningmovement.

Another object of the invention i to provide improved latches which aremounted in an im proved manner for tilting movement into and out of asupport engaging position and y-ieldably held in the support engagingposition.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved latch operatingmeans consisting of a shaft rotatably mounted through a. bearingbracket: and carrying cams which act upon the latches, the shaft beingturned by means of a foot lever or pedal which extends laterally fromthe: shaft and is normally held in position to maintain the latches insecuring; engagement with the support by a spring coiled about the shaftand having one end engaged with the treadle and its other end engagedwith a portion of the bracket through which the shaft is rotatablymounted.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tool support of suchconstruction that it may be conveniently disposed between cabinets orwork benches in a. shop where it will be out of the way when not in use.

With these and other objects in View the invention consists of a specialconstruction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of the improved tool support and one ofthe cabinets between which the support is disposed when installed in ashop.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view in elevation of a portion of the securingmechanism for the support.

Figure 3 is a; sectional view taken along the line- 3--3 oi Figure 2.

Figure. L is a fragmentary View upon an, enlarged scale taken on line.4-4 of Figure-1 and showing a portion of a latch and the. mountingbracket therefor partially in elevation and partially in verticalsection.

Figure: 5' is a view showing the tool support, in side elevation and aportion of a cabinet. in vertical section. v

Figure 6 is a. sectional view upon an enlarged scale taken transverselythrough the tool support, I

This improved tool support has an elongated horizontally disposed body Iwhich is hollow and has end walls or heads 2 which are of spiderlikeformation and between which extend the walls 3 of the body. The body hasbeen shown substantially square in cross section and therefore: has fourside walls but it will be understood that any number of side wallsdesired, may be provided, the. end walls or heads being shaped toconform to. the number of walls. fine corner portion of the body isprojected inwardly to form a. longitudinally extending recess 4 havingwalls. 5 and 6. A hub l is formed at the centerof each enclwall or headand from this hub ribs. or snakes 8- extend, radially thereof tomarginal portions of thev head. where they are integrally united withbordering ribs 5. Stub shafts: [0 project outwardly from the hubs andfit into. bearings H mounted in end walls of cabinets: [2. Therefore thebody or casing of the support is rotatably mounted between the cabinetsand may be turned about a horizontal axis and selectively dispose toolsassociated, with the various walls of the cabinet in position for use.

Various tools may be carried by the body or casing and in theillustration a lathe l3 has been shown mounted in the recess; 4 andsecured to the wall 6' thereof by suitable fasteners. The lathe is ofconventional construction and may be driven from a source of power by abelt trained about the pulley M of the lathe. One wall of the body isformed with openings 15 through which a sanding disk It is exposed. andin this wall is also formed an elongated opening or slot l6through'which a belt sander i7 is exposed. There has also been shown adrill press l8 mounted upon. one side wall in which is formed an openingto accommodate a band saw [9 driven by an electric motor housed in thebody or casing. A slot 2!] is formed in the wall at the opposite side ofthe casing from the belt sander and through this slot is exposed aportion of a tool 2| which may be a jointer, planer, or a rotary saw. Itwill be understood that the various tools mentioned and shown in thedrawings are merely illustrative of tools which may be carried by thebody and selectively moved into position for use by turning the body orcasing about its horizontal axis.

In order to releasably secure the body or casing in adjusted positionsthere have been provided latches 22 formed of metal bars or strips whichare disposed vertically under end portions of the body and have bills 23at their upper ends for engaging across the marginal strips 9 of the endwalls 2, the bills when so engaged with the marginal strips beingdisposed in seats or keepers 24 each having surfaces sloping towardopposite sides of the seat to cause the latches to ride up the slopesand engage the seat and thereby serving very effectively to preventturning of the body out of a set position. The latches are of duplicateconstruction and each has its shank portion welded to a sleeve 25constituting a bearing and through which passes a pivot rod or pin 26carried by arms 21 projecting from opposite side edges of a bracket 28disposed vertically and secured flat against an end wall of an adjoiningbench I2 by bolts 29. Fingers 3|! project from opposite sides of upperand lower ends of the brackets and across opposite side edges of thelatches and serve to guide tilting movement of the latches into and outof securing engagement with the heads of the body as well as serving tobrace the latches against transverse strains. An expansion spring 22 isdisposed between the bracket 28 and bill 23 and said springs therebyurge the latches into seating engagement with seats 24.

The latches must be tilted about the pins 26 away from the heads of thebody in order to release the body for turning movement thereof to anadjusted position and in order to do so there has been provided a rockershaft 3| which extends horizontally between the latches and is rotatablymounted through the upstanding ears 32 of a bracket 33 which may besecured upon the fioor between the cabinets in any desired manner. Endsof the rod pass through openings 34 at lower ends of the latches andalso through openings 35 formed through cam blocks or collars 36 carriedby and projecting outwardly from the latches. Companion cam blocks orcollars 31 are firmly mounted upon ends of the rocker shaft or rod 3iand these blocks 36 and 31 have diagonally extending confrontingsurfaces which bear against each other as shown in Figure 2. Referringto this figure and to Figure 1, it will be seen that when the rockershaft is in its normal position the latches will be disposed verticallyand have securing engagement with the heads of the body whereas when theshaft is turned in one direction the contacting diagonally extendingsurfaces of the blocks 31 will act upon the correspondingly disposeddiagonally extending surfaces of the blocks 36 and cause the latches tobe tilted about the pins 26 and moved out of the seats or keepers 24 toa position in which the body is freed and may be turned about itshorizontal axis until a desired tool is brought into position for use.Rotary movement is imparted to the rocker shaft in a direction to tiltthe latches to an inoperative position and release the body by means ofa foot lever or treadle 38 which is mounted about the shaft and carriesa collar 39 formed with a threaded opening to receive a set screw 40.When this screw is tightened the treadle is firmly secured to the rockershaft and downward pressure upon the treadle causes the rocker shaft tobe turned in a direction to move the latches to the releasin position.The helical spring 4| which is coiled about the shaft and has one endbearing against one of the ears 32 and its other end formed with a hook42 engaged under the treadle urges the treadle upwardly and yieldablyholds the rocker shaft in its normal position in which the latches arein the operative position for engaging in the seats 24 of the heads 8.It will thus be seen that after the latches have been moved to areleasing position and the body turned to a position in which thedesired tool is in position for use, the operator may remove his footfrom the treadle and the latches will be moved towards a position forengaging in the seats and securing the body stationary. If it is foundthat the latches fail to engage in the seats it is merely necessary torock the body back and forth until the seats are in position to receivethe latches. An arm 43 at the inner end extends downwardly andrearivardly therefrom with its free lower end overlapping the rear edgeface of the bracket 33, and this rear end of the arm carries a screw 44which constitutes an abutment and engages the said rear edge face of thebracket to limit turning of the rocker shaft in a direction to restorethe latches to the operative position. By adjusting the screw, movementof the rocker shaft in this direction may be controlled. While it hasbeen stated that the body is rotatably mounted between cabinets it willbe understood that it may be rotatably supported by a frame of suitableconstruction which may have rollers so that it can be easily moved fromone place in a shop to another.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A tool carrier comprising a body having heads at opposite ends eachincluding a bordering rib formed at sides of the body with recessesconstituting seats and with surfaces sloping towards opposite sides ofthe seats, shafts projecting from centers of said heads for engaging inbearings and mounting the body for turning about a horizontal axis toadjusted positions, tools carried by said body and selectivelypresentable in position by turning the body to adjusted positions,brackets, latches pivoted to said brackets for tilting movement into andout of an operative position for engaging in the recesses and securingthe body against turning out of a set position, cams carried by saidlatches, a rocker shaft spaced from and extending longitudinally of saidbody and having end portions loosely passing through said latches andcarrying cams engaging the cams of the latches, a bracket rotatablymounting said rocker shaft, a treadle extending from said rocker shaftand operable to turn the shaft in a direction to cause the cams of theshaft to act upon the cams of the latches and tilt the latches to aninoperative position permitting turning of the body to an adjustedposition, and a spring acting upon said treadle and yieldably holdingthe treadle and the rocker shaft in a normal position in which thelatches are in the operative position.

2. A tool carrier comprising a body rotatable about a horizontal axisfor selectively presenting tools carried by the body in position foruse, said body having end portions provided with keepers spaced fromeach other about the body, latches disposed vertically and eachpivotally mounted for tilting movement towards and away from the body bya bracket having ears at its sides between which a sleeve carried by thecompanion latch fits, a pin carried by the ears and passing through thesleeve and tiltably mounting the latch, fingers extending from upper andlower portions of said bracket across opposite side edges for guidingtilting movement of the latch, a rocker shaft cooperating with saidlatches and when turned away from its normal position effecting movementof the latches to an inoperative position for releasing the body, andmeans yieldably holding the rocker shaft in its normal position.

3. A tool carrier comprising a body rotatable about a horizontal axisfor selectively presenting tools carried by the body in position foruse, said body having end portions provided with keepers spaced fromeach other about the body, latches disposed vertically and mounted fortilting movement about a horizontal axis towards and away from the bodyinto and out of an operative position, a rocker shaft cooperating withsaid latches and when turned away from its normal position effectingmovement of the latches to an inoperative position for releasing thebody, means yieldably holding the rocker shaft in its normal position,each latch being formed near its lower end with an opening through whichthe rocker shaft loosely passes and having a beveled end faceconstituting a cam surface, and collars mounted about said shaft andhaving beveled end faces constituting cam surfaces contacting the camsurfaces of the block and cooperating therewith to tilt the latches to areleasing position when the shaft is turned away from its normalposition.

RAYMOND A. MOTT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number"Name Date 463,790 Quint Nov. 24, 1891 631,893 Jones et al Aug. 29, 18991,506,154 Berthelsen et al. Aug. 26, 1924 1,778,967 Tessmer Oct. 21,1930 2,300,389 Ruppel Oct. 27, 1942 2,319,025 Wehringer May 11, 19432,347,791 Onsrud May 2, 1944

